Fluid actuated tool



y 1946. H c. REYNOLDS FLUID ACTUATED TOOL Filed Oct. 5, 1944 w R0 Y n a u N N R ER. 0 WM w m m a l H H Patented May 28, 1946 Harold C. Reynolds, Athens, 'Pa., assignor to Ingersoll-Rand Company, Ne York, N Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 3, 1944, Serial No. 556,919. In Great Britain August 23, 1944, and in the Union of South Africa August 23, 1944 3 Claims. (01. 121-34) This invention relates to fluid actuated tools, and more particularly to a controlling device for fluid actuated tools of the rotary type, as for example portable drilling and reaming machines.

One object of the invention is to enable the direction of rotation of the rotative elements of the machine to be readily controlled in a simplifled manner and with a minimum of effort,

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

In the drawing accompanying this specification and in which similar reference numerals refer-to similar parts,

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of a fluid actuated rotary tool constructed in accordance with the practice of the invention, and

Figures 2 and 3 are transverse views taken through Figure 1 on the lines 2-2 and 3-3 respectively.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the tool designated, in general, by 20 comprises a casing 2| having a laterally extending grip portion 22 at its rearward end, and a front head 23 at its forward end arranged coaxially with the casing 2|.

Within the casing is a bore 24 to accommodate a cylinder 25 that contains a'bushing 26 the interior of which constitutes a chamber 21 that is closed at its rearward and front ends by heads 28 and 29, respectively. The heads 28 and 29 are disposed slidably in the cylinder 25, and at the rearward end of the cylinder is an introverted flange 30 to serve as a seat for the outer end of the head 28.

Arranged Within the chamber 21 is a rotor 3| having trunnions 32 and 33 at its rear and front ends, respectively, extending through the heads 28 and 29 and into antifriction bearings 34 in said heads. The front trunnion 33 may be connected, in any well-known manner, to transmission mechanism (not shown) in the front head for rotating a tool chuck 36 at the front end of said front head.

The rotor 3| is actuated by pressure fluid conveyed to the chamber 21 through the grip member 22 which has a supply passage 31 therein and a bushing 38 threaded into the outer end of the supply passage for connection with a supply conduit (not shown). The supply passage may be controlled by suitable valve mechanism only the operating plunger or trigger 39 of which is shown.

The rotor 3| is intended for reverse operation andpressure fluid for actuating it is introduced into the chamber 21 selectively on the opposite sides of and adjacent the point of minimum clearance between the rotor and the wall of the chamber 21 through the inlet passages 40 and 4| in the cylinder 25 and the bushing 26. The outlet ends of the inlet passages open into enlarged cavities 42 in the inner surface of the bushing 26 to assure the delivery of an ample supply of pressure fluid to the cells 43 between the protruding ends of vanes 44 slidable radially in the rotor 3|.

In the sides of the bushing 26 and the cylinder 25 opposite the point of minimum clearance between the rotor and the bushing are exhaust ports 45 through which exhaust fluid ma pass from the chamber 21 into an exhaust chamber 46 in the inner surface of the casing 2|. Exhaust ports 41 in the wall of the casing convey such exhaust fluid from the chamber 46 to the atmosphere.

As a preferred arrangement, a mufiler 48, in the form of a sleeve, is disposed about the front end of the casing to receive the exhaust fluid issuing from the exhaust ports 41. The ends of the muffler are crimped inwardly to engage the peripheral portions of the tool and thereby hold the sleeve portion of the mufiller in spaced relation with respect to the casing todefine a chamber 49 into which the exhaust fluid flows from the ports 41, and in the peripheral wall of the muffler are ports 50 to afford communication between the chamber 49 and the atmosphere.

In the form of the invention illustrated, the direction of rotation of the rotor 3| is controlled by rotating the cylinder 25 within the casing to bring one or the other of the inlet passages 40 and 4| into communication with the supply passage 31. To this end the front head 23 is interlockingly connected to the cylinder 25 as, for example, by threading an extension 5| on the rearward end of the front head into the front end of the cylinder. The extension 5| seats with its rearward end against the front end of the head 29 for clamping said head, the bushing 26 and the head 28 in fixed positions within the cylinder 25. These elements may be additionally secured with respect to each other and with respect to the cylinder in any suitable manner, if desired.

The front head 23 is suitably shaped, exteriorly, to constitute a grip member 52 that may be grasped to assist in guiding the tool with respect to the work and also for imparting rotative movement thereto and thus to the cylinder 25 and bushing 25, for bringing the inlet passages 40 and 4| into registry with the supply passage 31.

Suitable means are provided for limiting the extent of rotative movement of the cylinder within the casing and also for retaining the cylinder against endwise movement with respect to the casing. To this end the portion of the cylinder wall adjacent the head 29 is provided with an arcuate slot 53, and a screw 54 is threaded into the casing 2| to extend with a cylindrical end portion 55 into the slot with a slide fit on the side walls thereof for holding the cylinder against endwise movement. The slot 53 is of such length and o positioned within the cylinder that its end surfaces 56 will, when engaging the end 55, limit the degree of rotative movement of the cylinder relatively to the casing and thereby assure registry of the inlet passages with the supply passage 31.

The screw 54 has a slotted head 51 that seats against the outer surface of the casing 2| and lies within an aperture 58 in the muffler 48 to hold said muffier in the correct assembled position upon the casing 2|.

In the operation of the device, the tool is guided and held to the work by gripping the members 22 and 52. Pressure fluid is then supplied to the chamber 21 for driving the rotor 3| by pressing the trigger 39. The rotor will then continue to rotate in a given direction as long as an inlet passage, 40 or 4|, remains in registry with the supply passage 31. This position of an inlet passage with respect to the supply passage is assured by positioning the cylinder, rotatively, within the casing 2| in such wise that an end surface of the slot 53 seats against the end 55 of the screw 54, in the manner shown in Figure 3 of the drawing.

Whenever it is intended to drive the rotor in the opposite direction the cylinder 25 is rotated, by means of the grip member 52, from the position shown in Figure 2 of the drawing to place the opposite end surface 01' the slot 53 into engagement with the end 55 of the screw. This movement of the cylinder will carry one inlet passage, that designated 40 in the example shown out of registry with the supply passage 31 and bring the inlet passage 4| into registry with the supply passage. The rotor 3| will then rotate in the opposite direction, and in the new psition of the cylinder the inlet passage will open into the exhaust chamber 46 so that any pressure fluid remaining in the cells 43, as they approach the point of minimum clearance between the rotor and the wall of the chamber 21, may exhaust tothe atmosphere.

I claim:

1. A fluid actuated rotary tool, comprising a casing having a bore and a supply passage open ing into the bore, a cylinder rotatable in the casing having inlet passages spaced apart circumferentially, a fluid actuated rotor in the cylinder, and a front head at the end of the casing interlockingly connected to the cylinder and serving as a grip member for rotating the cylinder within the casing to bring the inlet passages selectively into registry with the supply passage.

2. A fluid actuated rotary tool, comprising a casing having a bore and a supply passage opening into the bore, a cylinder rotatable in the bore having inlet passages spaced circumferentially with respect to each other, a fluid actuated rotor in the cylinder, a front head threadedly connected to the cylinder extending forwardly of the casing to serve as a grip member for rotating the cylinder within the casing to bring the inlet passages selectively into registry with the supply passage, and means for preventing endwise movement 01 the cylinder and the front head with respect to the casing.

3. A fluid actuated rotary tool, comprising a casing having a bore and a supply passag opening into the bore, a cylinder rotatable in the bore having inlet pas-sages spaced circumferentially with respect to each other, a fluid actuated rotor in the cylinder, a front head threadedly connected to the cylinder extending forwardly of the casing to serve as a grip member for rotating the cylinder within the casing to bring the inlet passages selectively into registry with the supply passage, there being a slot in the cylinder, and means in the casing extending into the slot to cooperate with the ends thereof for limiting rotary movement of the cylinder within the casing and to cooperate with the side of said slot for preventing endwise movement of the cylinder with respect to the casing.

HAROLD C. REYNOLDS. 

